The Last Tango
by Swootsie
Summary: When Ranger's girlfriend is found murdered, he becomes suspect. He doesn't remember anything about the night though and a blood test shows he has been using drugs again. Now it's up to Joe and Stephanie to find the real killer and prove Ranger's innocen
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

October 6th was a cold and wet Friday night not atypical of autumn in Trenton, New Jersey. Stephanie Plum pulled to a stop in front of a small house on Slater Street and cursed the rain as she cut the engine and made a mad dash for the front door.

"You could have helped me out you know," Stephanie said her husband as she closed and locked the door behind her.

Joe Morelli was standing in the small foyer, arms folded over his chest, watching in amusement as she shook off the cold. Stephanie handed Joe the pizza box she had been carrying and dropped her keys on the sideboard. She slicked her hair away from her face, kicked off her boots, and followed him into the kitchen.

"I could have," Joe said, pulling a couple beers from the fridge, "but you're the one who wanted pizza at midnight. Besides, I didn't want to miss the show."

Stephanie grabbed one of the beers, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink. "What show?"

Joe's eyes darted down to her chest, and as he took a pull off his beer, his mouth curved into a smile. Stephanie looked down at her shirt—white cotton, now nearly translucent because of the rain—and rolled her eyes.

"Nothing you haven't seen before," she mumbled into her first bite of pizza.

"Yeah, but I still like the view," Joe said, tearing off a slice for himself. "Maybe later you could show me around. Maybe give me the grand tour."

Stephanie laughed into her water, causing some of it to slosh onto the table. She tore a few paper towels off the roll and began blotting at the mess. "I've given you the grand tour," she said. "I gave you the grand tour an hour ago. You know your way around better than I do."

_No doubt about that, _Joe thought. He had been learning the ins and outs of her body since she was six years old and had let him finger her inside his father's garage. That had been innocent curiosity. Just kids being kids. Much different from the first time they had made love be hind the pastry case years later.

Joe shrugged. "This is what newlyweds do, Cupcake," he said.

"We've been married for three years," Stephanie said through a mouthful of pizza, "and in case you've forgotten, I'm four months pregnant. The honeymoon is over."

"That's what you think?"

Stephanie nodded.

"No way, Cupcake," said Joe, shaking his head. He pushed his chair back from the kitchen table, stood up and lifted Stephanie into his arms. She clung to his neck and uttered in mock protest as he carried her upstairs and lowered her onto the bed. There, he kissed her deeply, his hands caressing her swollen stomach and breasts, turning her playful complaints into moans of absolute pleasure. He kissed his way down her body, ridding them both of any fabric preventing the warmth of skin on skin, as she writhed and bucked under his touch, weaving her hands through his hair, pulling him closer and keeping him there, where she needed him. Not that he would ever leave. Where she needed him was where he would always want to be.

They lay together for a long while after their mutual need for pleasure had once again been satisfied, their bodies sweat-kissed, legs entwined, arms holding each other close.

"I love you," Stephanie whispered, planting small kisses along the eagle tattooed on her husband's chest.

"I love you, too."

Stephanie raised herself up on her elbows and looked at him. "How much?"

Blowing out a sigh, Joe sat up and looked at her.

"Uh-oh," he said. "What is it this time? Peanut butter? Oatmeal? Spam? It's not Spam, is it?"

"You don't love me enough to buy me Spam?"

"Only if you promise to eat it outside," Joe said. "The kitchen still smells like sardines from last week!"

Stephanie made a face, followed by a gagging sound.

Joe sat up and pulled her to him. "Name it," he said. "Whatever you want."

Stephanie sucked in a breath and held it while she thought.

"I want cheesecake," she said, finally. "And an apple."

"An apple?"

Stephanie nodded her head.

"What kind of apple?"

"A green one," Stephanie said. "Something sour."

"Cheesecake and a green apple," Joe said, making a mental checklist. "Anything else?"

"Nope." Stephanie shook her head. "That's it."

"Okay," Joe said, kissing her lightly on her forehead. He rolled out of bed, pulled on his jeans and searched the floor for his longsleeved thermal top. Stephanie crawled down to the end of the bed and reached for him. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, lightly at first, then more deeply as his emotions (and hormones) got the best of him.

"I'll be back in a half hour," Joe said, nipping at her neck until he had elicited from her a groan of pleasure. "Might want to rest."

Worried that she wouldn't feel up to more activity in her condition, he pulled away and looked at her.

"Unless you're not up for dessert . . ."

Stephanie smiled and relaxed back on the bed, her arms stretched high above her head, framing the corona of brown curls, which had unfurled on her pillow. "I'm always up for dessert."


	2. Chapter 2

**A big thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far! I appreciate all the nice things that have been said and hope you enjoy the story!  
**

**Chapter Two**

The very next morning, Stephanie and Joe had visited the birthing center for a routine checkup. Both mother and baby had been given a clean bill of health, and a firm order to stay out of trouble and to rest on occasion. Joe had reluctantly dropped Stephanie off at the bond's office so she could share with her friends the latest sonogram print, and now Connie, Lula and Stephanie stood hovering over Connie's desk, peering down at the black and white photocopy of a tiny miracle.

Squinting her eyes and pushing her lips together in concentration, Lula said, "I don't see nothing."

"There," Stephanie said, pointing at the small nub of a nose, "Look."

Lula shook her head, still unable to tell apart all the shapes and colors.

"Wait," Connie said. "I think I see it."

Connie pointed at the print.

"Right there."

Stephanie looked at the place where Connie was pointing and grimaced. "No, I think that's my bladder, or maybe a kidney. Here, let me show you."

Stephanie tore off a section of plastic wrap and placed it over the print. Then, with a fine point black permanent marker, she drew the outline of the baby's profile as she had remembered it from her doctor's appointment earlier that morning.

_"Oooh,"_ said Connie and Lula in unison.

"Damn," Lula said, taking a closer look, now that she knew what she was supposed to be seeing. "If that's what I think it is, he's definitely a Morelli."

Stephanie giggled. "That's an _arm_," she said, though she couldn't disagree with Lula's assumption of her husband's above average endowment.

A rush of cold air floated through the bonds office and they all three turned to look at the door. Ranger was standing in the doorway, his black hair slicked back and his windbreaker glistening with rain. He nodded at them each in turn and kept his distance to keep from getting anyone wet as he handed Connie a file.

"Wow," Connie said, obviously impressed. "Tracy Clark. I just gave this to you yesterday. How did you find him so fast?"

"I got lucky," said Ranger on the cusp of a shrug. "What are you looking at?"

Stephanie picked up the sonogram picture and laid it on Ranger's open palm. He looked down at the print and his half smile turned into a full fledged smile.

"Been a while since I've seen one of these," said Ranger, passing the print back to Stephanie. "How's Morelli adjusting?"

Stephanie slipped the print back into its protective covering in her wallet and shrugged.

"About the same as me," she said. "I go back and forth between being scared to death and singing at the top of my lungs!"

"Babe," said Ranger, and Stephanie could tell he was genuinely happy for her. It meant a lot to her that they had been able to overcome all the hurt feelings on both sides and remain friends, and she smiled at him appreciatively.

The moment of peaceful silence was broken by Ranger.

"Can I see you outside?"

Stephanie gave him a look of utter confusion, but nodded her head in agreement and they both stepped outside. Ranger took off his windbreaker and draped it over her shoulders.

"Get in," he said, pressing a button on his keyring to unlock his truck.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Stephanie, shrugging into the windbreaker to protect herself from the cold.

Ranger looked down at her. "We're not going anywhere. I promise. I just don't want you to get sick in this weather, in your condition."

Stephanie knew he had a point, but she still didn't want to press her limits. It had been many years since she and Ranger had shared so much as an inappropriate brush of the hands, but she was married now and he had a girlfriend. She didn't want the Burg rumor mill to start churning out fabrications which some might believe to be fact.

"Babe," said Ranger, motioning to the truck.

"Okay," Stephanie said, getting colder by the second.

Stephanie climbed into the large cab of the truck and shed Ranger's windbreaker while he walked around the front of the truck and got in behind the steering wheel. He inserted the key into the ignition and the truck came to life, showering them both in warm air.

Ranger twisted in his seat to look at Stephanie and said, "I'm going out of town for a few days. A week at most. But I need to ask a favor of you before I go."

"What kind of favor?" Stephanie wanted to know.

Ranger took a moment and thought about what he was going to say, wanting to make sure it came out just right.

"There's a meeting on Thursday," Ranger said after a moments pause. "I would like it if you would go with me."

Stephanie looked down at her hands. As Ranger's sponsor, she'd been to AA meetings with him before, and she had no objection to it. But Olive was Ranger's girlfriend now, and she had in the past felt threatened by their friendship. Ranger had never elaborated on the reason Olive felt this way. Certainly nothing had gone on between the two of them to make her suspect she had any reason to be insecure, but Stephanie had deduced, by way of woman's intuition, that perhaps something in Olive's past relationships (which she knew to have been volatile) had left her with low self esteem, not unlike Ranger himself.

Ranger sensed the reason for Stephanie's hesitance, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I've talked to Olive about this," Ranger said to Stephanie. "She is okay with it. In fact, it was her suggestion."

Stephanie was relieved. She smiled at Ranger and nodded.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Ranger smiled and said, "Good. Thursday, 6:00. Do you want me to talk to Morelli?"

Stephanie shook her head.

"That won't be necessary. We support you. _Both_ of us."

Ranger looked down at the small bump forming where Stephanie's waste had once been, and said, "Don't you mean all three of you?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and stifled a laugh.

"I have to say, I never saw you as being a mother to anything other than a hamster or maybe a cat, but only after the hamster died."

Stephanie quivered her bottom lip in a mock pout. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, really," said Ranger, staring reflectively out the window, one arm draped over the steering wheel. "I guess sometimes things change. That's all."

"Yes," Stephanie agreed, slipping into her own reverie. "I think you're right."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story over the holidays! I appreciate all of your comments and support very much and hope you enjoy the rest of the story! **

**Chapter Three **

Stephanie returned home with two bags of groceries and a bottle of wine for dinner. The wine was for her husband. Joe liked to have wine with dinner. She would be having another bottle of water, what seemed like her fiftieth bottle that day if her trips to the bathroom were any indication.

She placed the bags of groceries on the counter and started removing items from the bags. She placed those items in the pantry, folded down the bags, and stored them under the sink. You never know when you might need a bag, her grandmother had always told her.

She was bent down, trying to make room in the cabinet under the sink when she felt something hard and warm press into her back. Two arms slid around her waist and she felt her nipples contract with pure excitement.

"You're home early," said Stephanie to Joe. She raised up and leaned back into him, giving his hands full access to her belly and breasts. He took advantage of this by sliding his hand under her shirt and rubbing her stomach in small soft circles before moving up to the base of her bra.

"I had other more important things to do than work, Cupcake," said Joe. He bent down and nibbled Stephanie's neck.

She let out a fierce moan.

"Would I happen to be one of these things?" she asked.

"Don't ever doubt it," Joe said and with one swift move he had rid her of her jacket, shirt and bra so that she was naked on top. Stephanie swiveled around to face him and watched as his eyes grew dark with desire. She tipped her chin up and kissed him, long and slow, enjoying the feel of his excitement pressed against her. She kissed his mouth and chin and neck. She rid him of his shirt and kissed his chest, working them both into a frenzy by the time she reached the waistband of his jeans.

Joe cupped her face and lifted her up to full height.

"Stephanie, I need to be inside you. Don't make me wait. I can't wait."

Joe lifted her up so that she was sitting on the edge of the sink.

"Here? Now? But I was just about to….."

Joe closed his eyes and groaned. His hands were clasped around the edges of her panties, trying to get them out of the way.

"Later, Cupcake. Right now, I want to feel you…all of you…wrapped around me."

He leaned in for another one of those heart stopping kisses. Stephanie felt her panties slide off her legs and land onto the floor, replaced by Joe's wonderfully skilled hands. He caressed the inside of her thighs, enjoying the moist hotness of her skin and the way her back arched when he brushed his fingers over her most sensitive areas. Stephanie locked her legs around his waist and pulled him to her. Knowing she was just as ready and desperate as he was, he slid into her, sheathing himself up to the hilt, and began a soft steady rocking motion that quickly sent them both spiraling over the edge of ecstasy.

They both clung to each other, their breathing shallow and rapid, when they were done.

"You're shaking," said Joe, pulling away only briefly to gauge the look on Stephanie's face. Her body was changing so rapidly, he was having a hard time keeping up. The idea that he might have hurt her while making love to her left him feeling sick inside. "Are you okay?"

Stephanie laughed, slightly amused and highly endeared by his concern for her and the baby. "I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than fine. I'm great! That was great! I'm just cold is all."

Joe picked up his tee shirt from the counter and dropped it over her head. Then he helped her to get down from the counter, collected their clothes, and settled Stephanie onto the couch while he ran them upstairs to the laundry basket. Stephanie was lounging on her side, snuggled up in a quilt, looking like she was ready for a nap.

"Can I get you something?" Joe said. "Water? Chips? We've got some pot pies in the freezer."

Stephanie smiled and let out a happy sigh. "I think I'm too tired to eat. I'm fine here. Sit down and watch TV and I'll make us some dinner when I wake up."

"I can't tell if that's a threat or a warning."

"It was….a warning…." Stephanie yawned and gave another smile. She was too sleepy to laugh. Already she was seeing weird images behind her closed eyes. "Remind me….to tell you….about Ranger…."

Having not had good things come from conversations about Ranger, this had Joe's curiosity on overload. He settled in beside Steph and tried to get her to say more but it was no use. She was already asleep.


End file.
